Winner Bad Brad Meadows double-dipped...
Winner
Bad Brad Meadows double-dipped at Milan as he took home the top prize in the B&M/Hurst/McLeod Shootout on Saturday and won class eliminations on Sunday. His '94 Cobra ran in the 10.30s and qualified number two.
Drag Radial was put in a tailspin at the first race of the year in Bradenton when a couple of turbocharged racers blew away the competition. One of the leading turbo cars in the category belongs to Chris Tuten, and he showed the field his taillights in Milan. He took out Kevin Fiscus in the final round with an 8.21 to a tire-smoking 8.82 by Fiscus. If people thought Renegade was strict with rules, then the Real Street class is even more so. The stick shift-only class is reserved for high 9-second and 10-second cars. The nitrous-versus-blower final round featured Bruce Hemminger and Tim Matherly. Hemminger wrung out his nitrous-powered coupe to the tune of 9.92 and grabbed the win.
The final two eliminators are naturally aspirated classes: Pure Street and Factory Stock. The Pure Street contingent was quite busy as they had three eliminators to complete in one event weekend-the rained-out Georgia finals, the B&M/Hurst/McLeod Shootout, and the regular class eliminations. Brad Meadows doubled up as he took home both the Shootout victory and a class win for the Milan event. The Kuntz & Co.-powered Cobra was the second quickest car in class with a 10.36 in qualifying. The near-stock Factory Stock class was won by Brian Marr in his modular-powered Mustang as his competitor, points leader Tommy Godfrey, lit the red light in the money round.
Chris Colitas (far lane) took...
Chris Colitas (far lane) took on Scott Baumgartner (near lane) in the Crane Cams Open Comp category. Colitas races a mid-12-second mod motor Mustang, while Baumgartner wheels the Paul's High Performance V-6 entry. Baumgartner has run in the high-10s with a Vortech SQ-Trim blower and a shot of nitrous.
Some of the wildest news of the weekend came from the Open Comp class where Don Bowles unveiled an experimental Ford V-8 engine that he was testing for Ford. The Roush Racing crew was working side-by-side with the Ford engineers all weekend to push the limits of the new "X" engine. The team and Ford officials were tight-lipped about the specifics, and our speculation is that Bowles was running a very large cubic-inch modular engine with Two-Valve heads. It sang to the tune of low-nines all weekend long without the benefit of a blower, turbo, or nitrous. Other news in the hotly contested index category was that three competitors nailed down perfect reaction times during qualifying. NMRA bases qualifying position on reaction time, and with a three-way tie, race director Lynwood Dupee made the decision to award the number-one spot to Andy Blackmon for having turned the first perfect light in the class. Despite perfect lights and experimental engines, the winner was Shane Williams with his mid-12-second '99 Mustang GT.
The other two index classes, Truck and Lightning and Modular Muscle, might have featured less drama, but race-day action was just as tight. Chris Colitas survived five rounds, including a final match against the always-tough Tommy Motycka. Family member Mike Motycka took out Johnny Lightning in the finals of Truck and Lightning. Johnny broke out of his 9.00 index by only 0.079, handing the automatic win to Motycka in his '79 F-100.
Ford Racing Invitational
It all started a few months ago when Jesse Kershaw of Ford Racing Performance Parts brought up an idea for the NMRA-Milan event. He sketched up a scheme that would pit journalists against each other in a no-holds-barred bracket race. FRPP invited 17 journalists from various publications, and each randomly chose a vehicle by picking a slip out of a helmet. Each car was equipped with an array of FRPP upgrades, and it was a chance for the journalists to slug it out on the track for bragging rights and fun.
Editor Evan Smith represented MM&FF, while yours truly stood in as the Ford Performance Trucks magazine entry. I pulled a Hertz GT-H (complete with a bracket-race friendly automatic transmission), while Smitty got stuck with a 500-horse Mustang GT with a stick shift transmission. The FRPP supercharged GT was an awesome car but one of the more difficult to race-especially on street tires. Smitty did an admirable job of qualifying third (based on reaction time), and I qualified fifth.
Winner Factory Stock restricts...
Winner
Factory Stock restricts entries to using the stock induction system and is specific on replacement parts being close to stock. Despite these restrictions (which keep the cost down when compared to the other classes), the cars run in the 11s on BFGoodrich drag radials. Brian Marr defeated point's leader Tommy Godfrey in the finals. Godfrey went red as he tried to gain a starting-line advantage on the quicker Marr. The teal Mustang ran 11.84 at 114 mph in the finals.
Modular Muscle got muscled...
Modular Muscle got muscled around by Tom Motycka and his 12-second '96 Mustang. The car features a Livernois Motorsports-prepped 5.4L engine. He was the runner-up finisher.
Greg Blevins polished his...
Greg Blevins polished his gorgeous turbocharged Mustang for some low-seven-second fun. Skinny Kid Race Cars recently updated the car with a new front clip, a 25.2 upgrade, and many other chassis updates to bring it up to modern Outlaw 10.5 specs. Blevins had noted engine builder Mike Moran built a 400ci engine with a single 106mm Precision turbo. It was the first time out this year, and Blevins scored a runner-up in Outlaw 10.5.
Score one for Joe Morgan and...
Score one for Joe Morgan and the Motive Gear Pro 5.0 entry. The team overcame its early season struggles and broke out with a runner-up finish in NMRA's top category. The 632ci engine features three stages of Edelbrock nitrous and the ability to run mid-6s. They took out Bischoff in the semis with a 6.75 at 209 and then ran an identical 6.75 in the finals against Michael Hauf.
Maryland's Don Burton knocked...
Maryland's Don Burton knocked off Manny Buginga for the win in the rain-delayed Super Street Outlaw final round from the previous race in Reynolds, Georgia. He then drove the big-block-powered Mustang to the runner-up spot on Sunday as he lost to Sam Vincent, 7.47 to a traction-limited 7.70.
Some things are just a shoe-in...
Some things are just a shoe-in at NMRA races, like Tim Matherly running really fast in the Real Street category and putting on an air show for the fans. The MV Performance-backed race car wields a Two-Valve engine with a ProCharger P1SC-2 supercharger. In the finals, Matherly lost to Bruce Hemminger with a 9.94 to Hemminger's 9.92.
The School of Automotive Machinists...
The School of Automotive Machinists was well represented by Justin Curry, who postponed his wedding so he could attend the race and drive the S.A.M. Hot Street car. The team knocked down an 8.87 to qualify fifth but lost to Robert Blankenship in the quarter-finals.
Tony Orts was hired to drive...
Tony Orts was hired to drive the P.E.R. Racing entry in the EFI Renegade ranks. The engine shop built a stout 392ci engine that qualified number one with an 8.73 at 154. It stood as the class' low e.t. of the event.
Winner Drag Radial has been...
Winner
Drag Radial has been dominated by the turbocharged entries in 2007, and one of the leaders has been Chris Tuten. His green LX dropped a stellar 8.08 during competition and took home the class victory with an 8.21 over Kevin Fiscus' '04 Mach 1.